Adventure and Photography – Passion for the Outdoors

Hiking on a field of blueberries

After an exciting morning kayaking in front of Harvard Glacier in College Fjord the captain was heading back towards Port Wells. We anchored up in a small bay and the skiff was put on the water. We were ready for a hike in the yellow and orange fall colours of the Chugach National Forest.

Chugach National Forest was formed in 1907 and is covering large areas of Prince William Sound. Three fun facts about Chugach National Forest:

Despite this being a short hike it was fairly strenuous walking as most of the hike was through swamp, there are no hiking trails out here in the wilderness. But with such a spectacular view that was soon forgotten. It is amazing that glaciers and lush forest live hand in hand like in the Chugach. There was no evidence of human activity except from a couple of boats out in the fjord.

The hike was at a comfortable speed as everyone frequently stopped to pick blueberries, There was lots of them and they were very sweet and tasty. We found both low bush and high bush blueberries, the latter being my favourite. There was also lots of wild Alaskan low bush cranberries, but they were quite sour so I sticked with the blueberries.

BALD EAGLES & WATER LILIES

We also spotted a this juvenile Bald Eagle keeping an eye on us from the top of his three crown. Only the adults have the easily recognisable white head. We actually saw lots of Bald Eagles, no wonder since the population of these magnificent birds is more than 30.000 in Alaska.

On our way down to Esther Passage, where Discovery have sailed ahead and is waiting for us, we passed this wonderful pond that had water lilies probably blooming earlier in the summer. I was not expecting to come across water lilies in Alaska, what a nice surprise.

ALASKAN SUMMER

Once onboard Discovery again our excellent chef Matt served up a delicious treat while local refreshments were served on ice. Ice cubes freshly picked up from Harvard Glacier earlier in the day. The ride through the narrow Esther Passage was a delight (could be the Alaskan Summer talking) and we spotted both harbour seal and mountain goats.

Our next stop will be a meeting with the loud and smelly sea lions! More to come …

This post is part of our mini series from our Alaskan Honeymoon. We are currently on post 6 – Hiking on a field of blueberries. If you missed any of the previous posts check out the links below the map.

It was heaven! I could have stayed forever – ok maybe not forever but I would definitely not mind going back! And the blueberries were great. The cranberries however..not for me:) Thanks for you comment!

Thank you so much! A bit different than Muir Pass right, but both have their charm:) I also loved the combination between the orange and the blue, it was beautiful! Could be any better! Thanks for your comment.

Thanks Ingrid, appreciate the comment! The terrain was fairly open and since we were group I wasn’t too concerned about bears on this hike. Also the bears seemed to have moved higher up in the mountain getting ready for hibernation. We did however have some hikes later where we kept our eyes open and bear spray close:)

Thanks Lucy! It was an amazing place. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second going back (we have actually considered doing so this summer….). Highly recommended if you are into nature and that stuff;) Thanks for you comment.

Thanks Rob – it is sure worth a visit. I will have to go back as there are so many things up there I still want to see & thing I want to do! Hmmmm….wonder if I could get a job up there… And I never say no to a challenge;)

And we did, that’s why the hike took forever, but speed was not a goal for this hike:) I think blueberries and blueberry jam is quite popular in Alaska. We saw lot’s of blueberry pickers while in Alaska. Even when the rain was poring down they were out thee picking berries:)

Thanks for commenting Jet! It was a amazing day, weather was gorgeous which isn’t always the case in this wet eco-system. The blueberries were so tasty and sweet, nothing like the ones we get in the grocery store here which has to be defined as a bit tasteless compared to the wild ones in Alaska. Yummy!

Most definitely a large variety – I am still amazed over how lush the forest was. I had seen lots of pictures of the glaciers, so they were expected. But that there would be this green, luxuriant forest next to the glaciers was a surprise to me:) Lovely!

Inger & Tor

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